We’re standing at JAX airport watching all the passengers filing by us, coming in from who knows where, some being greeted, some not, most on their phones. I scan each face as they turn the corner, not quite able to make out features from a distance but knowing I’d recognize her walk. Thom asks, “Is that her?” “No.” “Is that her?” “No.” “You know, it’s been over a year. Maybe she’s changed.” “No. I’ll know her when I see her.”
Then, around the corner, I see her coming towards me. Even now, when they’re all grown and away from me, the sight of any of my kids reminds me that some serious pieces of my heart are out there, walking around, most likely oblivious to that fact. But I see my only daughter after being apart for over a year, and suddenly my heart fills back up.
I move forward, talking to myself, “There she is. There’s my girl. There’s my girl” I wrap her in my arms, breathe in the familiar scent of her, feel her skin against my lips — utter completeness that I didn’t know I was missing until just that second. And I have perma-grin!
And so we spend the next four days at the beach, with a couple side trips to the Daytona Flea Market, some meals out, movies in, and more beach. The days fly by just like I knew they would, but I make sure to fill them with whatever she wants. I hope she had a good time. I think she did.
It’s hot here. 90’s the last few weeks with about the same humidity levels. It rains almost every afternoon; a heavy, tropical rain that causes steam to rise from the blacktop and leaves the air even heavier with moisture. It makes your skin soft and your hair and nails grow. It fogs your glasses when you come inside. It makes you wonder how people live in this climate without air conditioning. It doesn’t last all that long; a month of high 80’s, a few weeks of 90’s. But it’s definitely stifling, causing you to move from home to car to store to car to home without spending too much time in between.
When I think about that, I remember where I came from, moved away from. Winters in northern Michigan last from about November through March and often into April. And I’m talking the cold, wet, windy winter that seeps into your joints and chills you to the bone. The never-ending bleakness of days upon days of little or no sunshine; late mornings and early evenings of darkness that make you long for summer when the sun doesn’t set until 10:00 pm. But to get to that summer you have to survive the muddy, rainy weeks of spring with the dirty snow piled up along the curbs trying to melt without sunshine, waiting for warmer days to finally rid itself. Summer begins, at least according to the calendar, June 21st and ends on September 21st. And sometimes, in northern Michigan, it actually does. Much of the time, though, summer begins and ends in bouts of 70- to 90-degree weeks, with cooler, rainy weather filling in the spaces making it virtually impossible to arrange for outdoor events without a backup plan. Fall, my most favorite Michigan season, rewards us with an amazing array of color and crispness that brings folks out for walks and drives, knowing that soon enough they’ll be forced back inside for the duration of another long, cold winter season.
Which brings me back to late summer in Florida. We don’t spend much time outdoors unless we’re at the beach; thankfully it’s only a few miles away. Mornings are best. People are out biking, walking their dogs or exercising, often before 8:00 a.m. But after 9:00 or so you’re forced back inside to the a/c. Evenings aren’t bad once the sun goes down, which is usually around 8:00 p.m. here. Most restaurants along the beach have outdoor seating where the ocean breezes keep you comfortable. Music generally fills the air and lines of pelicans fly overhead making their way to wherever it is they spend their nights.
During the day we ask ourselves how long we can stand the heat. Everyone mentions the humidity whenever they come in from outdoors. We are constantly in awe of the powerful and quick storms that move in and move out leaving steam rising from the parking lots. And then we’ll look at each other and remember: It could be worse. It HAS been worse. This is our ‘winter’ weather. This is what we have to endure to live and enjoy the remaining 10 beautiful months here. And anyone who has moved south from those long winters unequivocally agrees that it’s MUCH easier getting through this than it is getting through the seemingly endless months of the dry, windy, bone-chilling winter that forced us to look southward to sunshine, warmth, and the ocean.
June 1 to June 5 2013 was really fun! Kevanna (Kevin and Savanna) finally came for a visit, and we all had a great time! Thom and I love to go to the beach, and we love to boogie-board. But that doesn’t mean everybody does. And sometimes we have to remember that just because welike it, we can’t just assume our guests will enjoy it as well. We get some pretty good-sized waves here, and the rip current can be pretty intimidating. We’ve been playing in the waves for a while now, so we tend to forget how scary they can be. Plus, if you’re little, like Savanna, well, the waves are even larger. But off we went, hoping against hope they’d love it as much as we do.
AND THEY DID!!!!
What a great time we all had! We ate in, we ate out, we visited an IMAX theater and explored St. Augustine, we sunbathed and enjoyed coffee on the lanai. But best of all we played in the ocean as much as we could. Kevin took right to it. Savanna struggled with a too-big board, but once we found her the right size, she went at it like a pro. We all got rolled around in the surf a bit, especially Savanna (ouch!), but she was a great sport and went fearlessly back at it.
It all went too fast, but they’ve promised to come back. And we’re holding them to it!
Here’s more photos of fun! [portfolio-gallery include=2261]
[portfolio-gallery include=2139]We’re finally into our new house! Completely! After spending a full day last weekend moving the rest of our junk into our new garage, we’ll have the rental cleaned next week and will be DONE with renting forever. Now comes the unpacking, sorting, and putting away all the stuff we’ll keep, with the rest of it left in the garage for a future sale. But that’s down the road a bit. The past couple of weeks have been filled with cleaning, painting, and shopping, with poor Thom taking the brunt of the work because of my job. The garage and the outside, which is in desperate need of a paint job, had to wait while we re-did the inside. Kevanna is coming next weekend, and we HAD to have it ready for them! Thom’s brother-in-law was down this past week and installed a beautiful set of French patio doors that just make the room. Here’s some befores and afters:
First, the living area looking out to the front door. We removed the curtains, then Thom took down the wallpaper border on the left. We decided to stay with the same color as the rest of the room, and since there was a can of paint in the garage with the name on it, we were able to match it perfectly! We put some 2″ white wood blinds in the front window. A new front door and screen door are in our future.
The kitchen had some big changes. We had to put a new counter top in as the old one was actually warped. Thom spent days sanding and painting the cupboard doors and drawer fronts, including the wood around the light fixture. We were forced to get a new (used) fridge, so we went for a big white side-by-side. We hope to replace the stove and microwave with white ones down the road.
But I have to say our most favorite improvement is in our beautiful little lanai! Here are a couple of before and a couple of after pictures. The lanai was just filthy when we got in there. No one had lived in the house for over two years. Once we cleaned it, we realized it had beautiful tile under all the dirt. But the slider had to go. It wouldn’t slide; it kept falling off the track. It made all kinds of noise. It just begged to be replaced! Huge thanks go to Bobby for such a great job installing it with some help from Thom. The perfect housewarming gift!
So, aside from the bedrooms, which really didn’t need any big fixes, I think we’re ready for our first company! (We just have to keep them out of the garage.)
When we moved to Florida a little over a year and a half ago, I had some concerns about the summers. I’d lived in southern Louisiana a million years ago, and the heat there was absolutely unbearable. It wasn’t just hot. It was that sticky suck-in-your-breath-and-hope-some-oxygen-gets-through kind of hot. After leaving there, I swore I’d never live in that kind of climate again.
Fast-forward about 30 years and — who knew? — here I am, living in northeast Florida. Granted, it’s not Louisiana, though from what I can tell on the map, it’s about the same latitude as my previous southern home. But here’s the difference:
Magnolia Tree
We have seasons here! Granted, summer is the longest, whereas in Michigan winter is the longest. But come late fall, things cool down to occasional sweater weather, many trees lose their leaves, the deep and vivid greens fade to a duller hue, and traffic picks up. And I love it. (Well, not the traffic part). The fall brings with it the most beautiful colors in flowers and shrubbery. I have new favorites like Muhly Grass, Bouganvillea, and Bottle Brush trees. The Magnolia trees with their huge white blossoms and deep green leaves are everywhere. And where we live, outdoor activity is encouraged with beautiful walking/bicycle paths that go for miles and miles through the Florida wilderness.
We’ve been here two winters now. The first winter was so mild we were in the ocean every month, and we sort of laughed when we were told this wasn’t exactly typical. This past winter was cooler with water temps going to the low 60’s. That may have prevented us spending as much time in the ocean, but the benefits were seeing Right Whales, northern Gannets, and Florida Manatee.
Grape vines
Now it’s spring. And what is my very favorite part of spring is probably the bane of many Florida natives. What I thought was the Kudzu Vine is actually just a wild grape vine, but God, I love this thing! I wonder if it’s because it somehow reminds of a beautiful snow that blankets some pretty barren landscaping during northern Michigan winters. This vine dies off quickly at the first early frost. But come spring, the dull green forests start to come alive, and along with that comes the vine, eventually spreading itself over trees and brush until it looks like someone threw a brilliant green blanket over them! I’ve learned it’s not a good thing. I’ve learned that it can kill what it covers because the sun can’t get through. I don’t know too much about that. I just know I really like how it looks, and when I see that, I know that summer will soon be in full bloom. And since we’re near the Atlantic Ocean, we’re finding the heat of the northeast Florida summer is relieved by a beautiful tropical breeze that lends itself to early morning walks and late evening activities.
Yeah, we like it here. We don’t get the thousands of spring-breakers because our winter temps are moderate; that’s a good thing. And while we get plenty of snowbirds, our population doesn’t double in the winter like the southern or gulf areas. We’re more temperate here, slower and somehow calmer than any other area of Florida I’ve been. We got lucky finding this place. Thom’s always saying I should quit telling people how great it is here or we’ll end up like Naples or Lauderdale. But it’s hard not to talk about when we feel so fortunate to have found a little slice of heaven right here on earth.
No one thought she’d make it a month, but make it she did! Mom was here the whole month of February, which gave us plenty of time to get to the beach, go to the IMAX for her first 3D show, experience a great priest at a lovely mission church, eat out, eat in, knit, see the manatees, play bridge both on her laptop and in a large local group, and read, read, read! I’m not sure how many books she went through, but when she ran out, we visited the library and got her stocked up with more.
Sometimes when I got home from work I’d ask what she did today, and her response was, “Well, I read all day!” She struggled with the guilt of doing just exactly what she wanted when she wanted, and while I tried to convince her that she could anything she wanted and it didn’t matter to us, she said the guilt thing was built into her and she just couldn’t help it. So I said, “Okay,” and left it at that.
We sure did enjoy having her here, and my hope is she had a nice enough time that she wants to come back. Any time!
We had lots to look forward to this Thanksgiving of 2012. Andrew and his family were meeting the Meads at DisneyWorld for the whole week. They’d picked the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to rent a car, load up the kids, and head over here for the afternoon — no easy feat! They showed up right around noon, and it was so nice to see them all! I thought perhaps little Evie wouldn’t want anything to do with this Gramma she never sees, but I had no worries. She came out of her car seat right into my arms and wasn’t a bit shy! Such a cuddle bum! Oh, my goodness, is she ever sweet. Dez had to lured, though, and since they’d both been awakened from a nice nap, I expected the worst and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly he came around. I’m SO grateful to Skype! After hugs all around, we got them all inside and fed them lunch, then headed to the beach to fly a kite!
It was windy, and not especially warm, so we didn’t spend too much time there, maybe an hour. Evie sat on the beach towel looking darling while the boys set the kite flying in the wind. Surprisingly Dez was only mildly interested. The ocean and the sand had his full attention. He was amazed that his little feet left footprints in the sand, and then those huge waves would come up and wash them away!
He was in my happy arms most of the time since there was no way he was going to let the water touch him. It was getting close to high tide and the waves were quite big; nothing I’d want to swim in. We ran in and out of the water with him safely above the waves, then we’d walk along the beach and find ‘treasures’ of shells. But the wind was just too much for Evie, so we eventually made our way back to the car and drove to a little playground to wear Dez out a bit more.
Back at the house I had a pot roast dinner waiting. Drew got to watch his little brother in his movie, then it was back into the car for their stop-and-go drive back to Orlando.
Thanksgiving Day found Thom and I headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a turkey dinner with the entire family where I was able to hold Evie while everyone else ate in relative peace. Afterward, we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the Osborne Family Lights on the Streets of America. I cannot explain it here, and even the photos can’t do it justice. Thom did put together a little video. But how to explain how I felt standing there with the Christmas music coming from all sides, the Christmas lights waving and blinking to the beat, and then — the snow! Yes, it snowed! To say I was overwhelmed would be putting it mildly. What an amazing experience, and my many thanks to Drew for this wonderful gift of Christmas!
It wasn’t a long visit, but it was wonderful nonetheless. It had just been too, too long since I’d seen my BFF SFAM (best friend forever, sister from another mother), and because I knew she hated flying, though we’d made a plan for her to visit, I wasn’t really planningon it.
But she did it! She flew down here all by herself, first time flying solo. We made sure she had a non-stop flight and she was sitting up front, and a glass of wine before the flight eased her nerves just enough to get her down the ramp and onto the plane. I was so happy to see her gliding down the escalator, bag in hand looking just lovely in a flowing top and beautiful scarf, her cuffed jeans just right for our fall weather.
We yakked, we biked, we ate out and ate in, we shopped and swam and yakked some more. We just really enjoyed spending time together. And though her return flight came too soon for me, I know she’ll come back, because those baby steps were just the beginning.
LiviKnit 